


One Step Back, Two Steps Forward

by Starlight_Adventurer



Series: Moving Forward [1]
Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Fighting crimes & kicking ass, Hijinks & Shenanigans, M/M, Nya is only mentioned, Ridiculous dorks, They love each other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-06
Updated: 2018-07-06
Packaged: 2019-06-06 11:07:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15193445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starlight_Adventurer/pseuds/Starlight_Adventurer
Summary: With crime on the rise and Ninjago facing world ending disasters more often than anyone would care to admit. Local police turn to private investigators and mercenaries to help them catch criminals. More often than not, however, these people get in each other's way.What happens when a skilled mercenary and a PI with the power of shadow face off to catch a thief and maybe more. Will they agree or not?





	One Step Back, Two Steps Forward

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Noblegas Xenon (NoblegasXenon)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoblegasXenon/gifts).



If there was ever a point where Ronin was sure that everyone in the room would be just as likely to steal his wallet as they were to greet him like an old friend, now would be it. 

The old bar had seen better days; its walls were worn and stained with who knows what, that gave the room a constant foul odour that was comparable to death. The dim lights that dotted the room did little to make the space brighter and instead made it seemed like a cave, more than anything else. Yet, to the shady underworld of Ninjago it was as close to home as most of them would get.

He glanced around the room, careful not to make eye contact lest he started a fight, taking note of a few regulars along with a couple new faces. His gaze landed on the noticeboard at the far end of the room. It was covered in bits of paper, ranging from wanted posters of criminals sent out by the police to less than legal job offers from rich citizens. 

Ronin walked over to stand in front of it for a better look. Some of the requests were weeks old, untaken for one reason or another, while others were pristine and new with high rewards. He scanned the more recent ones for something interesting before focusing on the latest job offer. 

It was from a family who were hoping to track down a person that had robbed them of almost everything they owned a week earlier. The reward was low, as to be expected given their situation, but they sounded desperate. Ronin wasn’t one to often play hero, yet it was an easy payday. Without much more thought, he ripped the job poster off the board before walking out of the bar. He ignored the many stares that followed him as he exited, maybe too much.

\---

Shade had been tracking this theif for weeks. The guy was suspected of being behind at least seven robberies over the past two months and the police were getting desperate. He’d been talking to one of his informants when they had mentioned an unknown hindrance to his plan had taken a request to track down the same perp. 

Now it was a race to track him down first.

He wasn’t going to waste any time, especially knowing the kind of guy he was likely up against. Most bounty hunters wouldn’t think twice about getting rid of their competition and Shade wanted to keep his limbs intact. Being able to blend into and move through shadows only went so far if the other person was holding a gun.

After consulting with some of his other backstreet informants, Shade managed to gather information on a warehouse that the thief was using to store the stolen items before selling them. Which led him to his current situation, he stood of front of the rundown building.  
Sometimes he wished that criminals put there hideouts in nicer areas, at least somewhere that didn’t smell like a gym locker room mixed with a fish cannery. 

Ignoring the smell, he noticed several of its windows had been smashed and then covered over with board, instead of being repaired; Shade surveyed all of broken glass then settled on an entry point.The half alive street lamps that dotted the area gave out little to no light but caused the buildings to cast jagged shadows against each other. He used this to advantage, along with the remnants of a fire escape, he scaled the side of the warehouse to one of its upper windows.

By using a narrow ledge to balance on, he looked into said window to see a load of empty crates, random junk and a rusty car. The thing that caught Shade’s attention, however, was a single small TV illuminating a couch which was occupied by a lone figure. He smirked to himself before silently opening the cracked window in front him.

Bingo.

\---

This guy was an amatuer. 

Ronin only had to glance over the information he had been given by the client family to realise whoever this thief was had left an evidence trail longer than Ninjago itself. He was almost embarrassed for the guy, if he hadn’t also been the guy to steal stuff from a load of families too poor to afford a security system. If he had to guess, the only reason police hadn’t gotten this guy yet is because he was really good at hiding, not good enough though.

Using his extensive network of ‘friends’ Ronin tracked down the guy in an afternoon. Although, he did owe a couple people a favour now, which he was not looking forward to repaying. The warehouse in front of him was massively cliche for the situation but he wasn’t complaining. It didn’t looks like any traps had been set for bounty hunters, or the police, so he decided to use the door.

He picked the locked, which needed more than a bit of cleaning, and quietly opened the metal door. Ronin wasn’t impressed at the so called ‘hideout’, was this guy really living here? The stolen items littered the floor along with a mountain of cigarette and takeout boxes. When he found the thief, lounging in front of a tiny screen smoking, Ronin knew this was going to be an easy fight.

He was about to make himself known to the criminal when a light thud came from behind the guy. Both of them turned towards the noise, only to see nothing there. The thief just shrugged and moved to take another drag from his cigarette until it was knocked out of his hand. The item in question met the wall opposite where they had been looking with a bang with what looked like a blade through it.

The thief yelled, falling out of his chair, “What the hell? Who’s there?”

The deep chuckle that followed was enough to get the guy on his feet. A voice answered in the same tone as the earlier noise, “You shouldn’t smoke you know, even the master of the stuff thinks it’s bad for people. Something about the nasty chemicals destroying your lungs.”

The criminal growled, reaching into his back pocket before pulling out a gun to point it nowhere in particular. He waved it around the room, shouting, “Don’t mess with me.”

“Or what?” The same voice mocked, “You don’t even know where you’re shooting.”

“The fu-” The thief began but was cut of by the gun being knocked out of his hand by an identical blade to the first. Ronin, who had been watching silently from the side, had to admit it was pretty impressive. The criminal went to grab the gun from where it had skidded to stop on the floor. Before he could, a figure materialised out of the darkness on the wall to put his foot on top of the weapon.

Whoever it was definitely had a theme going with his appearance. Ronin thought it worked with the whole ‘hiding in the shadows’ idea but something was off, that couldn’t have just been hiding. He re-focused on the new person when he began advancing on the target. Knowing where this was going Ronin made his presence known, “Might want to stop there, Buddy.”

Both the criminal and the shadow guy turned to look at him before the latter spoke, “Oh great, thought you’d take longer to get here.”

“Sorry to disappoint,” Ronin chuckled making the guy sigh. His humorous mood dropped when the other fell into a defensive stance. He sighed in reply himself, “Look, you seem like a nice guy and all but I really need this score.”

“And you think I don’t?” The guy asked moodily.

Ronin gave the guy a quick glance head to toe before admitting, “To be honest, you look like the kind of guy that has bathed in the last week, so…”

“Oh god, that’s disgusting.” He grimaced, holding his nose, and asked, “Do you need soap? Or water?”

“Eh…” Ronin responded with a so-so hand movement. He chuckled as the other cringed but stopped as he noticed they were now alone in the large room. Quickly surveying the space, he realised while they were chatting it up the target had crawled away to whatever hole he was now hiding in. “Well shit,” Ronin muttered crossing his arms.

“What is it now?” The other asked making Ronin nod his head to the space previously occupied by their thief. “Well shit,” he copied running a hand down his face. A thoughtful silence set over the two of them as they both began to plan their next moves. 

Ronin couldn’t help but sneak a few glances at the other guy. It was rare to find competition that didn’t immediately try to kill you. Whoever this guy was, he was interesting. After a few glances, they made eye contact which the other guy rolled his eyes at causing him to chuckle. The shadow guy was the first to break the silence, “Just so you know, I’m not backing down on this one.”

“I wouldn’t expect anything less from someone going up against me.” Ronin joked despite looking serious.

“Oh wow, ego much.” The other mocked taking a step back.

“It isn’t ego when it’s true,” Ronin corrected with a smirk.

“We’ll see about that,” with that the other left just like he had entered, through the shadows.

\---

On their next encounter, they knew a little bit about each other. 

Shade wasn’t surprised when half the Ninjago underworld knew about this guy. Just mentioning ‘trash man’ got him nostalgic laughs and tales of adventures, along with viewings of scars he’d rather not have seen. Most people had either worked with/against this man or been caught by him. Shade had to be smart with him.

Ronin, on the other hand, had trouble finding much information on this ‘shadow man’, not even his informants were much help. What he did learn came from a source he hadn’t been expecting. Nya had been helping him with some repairs on REX when he mentioned his new rival. She warned him of the powers of an elemental master, especially a tricky one like the master of shadow, but he wasn’t worried.

Much like the last time, they had both tracked the target to an abandoned building being used as a safehouse. Shade thought it was worse than the last one, with dust over almost every surface to the point it resembled snow. It reeked of old food and mould but that didn’t stop the thief from enjoying his TV. He had set a small trap for his new ‘friend’ so Shade kept to the shadows, waiting.

When Ronin slipped into the building, ready to catch his thief, he forgot to check for obstacles. The bucket of cold liquid that greeted him the moment he stepped over the door threshold was loud enough to startle the target from his seat. He grumbled as he took the fallen object off his head, from where it had knocked off his hat. Then, he took in the dampness of his clothes and how the water he had been covered in almost smelled like flowers.

 

The next thing he noticed was a small laugh coming from the rafters of the warehouse. Without much thought, he grabbed a small rock from the ground and threw it in the direction of the sound. The knock and yell that followed indicated that the rock had met its target. Moments later, Shade materialised from the dark wall beside him rubbing his head. He groaned and complained, “Ow, why did you hit me?”

“You threw flower water on me.” Ronin muttered, putting on his waterlogged hat.

“It’s called soapy water, it makes you clean.” Shade explained, “You know, not a stinky trash man.”

“‘Trash man’...” He sighed, “You hide in a dumpster one time.”

“You di-” Shade began before he was interrupted.

“What the hell?” Another voice yelled from behind the pair. They turned around to see their target taking a shaky step back, not looking away from them. The two glanced at each other before Ronin pushed over Shade. Without missing a beat, he began chasing the man who had already bolted through the nearest door. Shade stayed on the floor, looking up at the ceiling, and listened as their footsteps got further away. He knew that he should probably get off the very dusty floor and give chase as well, but he was more entertained hearing the Ronin yell and curse as the thief got away.

Maybe next time.

\---

Next time, Ronin was there early. After last time he wasn’t taking any chances on being caught off guard. He would get his revenge and score the catch all at the same time. Although sneaking in through windows and waiting in the dark was not one of his strong suits. Unlike the other two hideouts, this building was on abandoned store. He had managed to climb in through a high window in one of the storage rooms in the back. 

The target was sat in the dark on what seemed to be his phone, occasionally sighing. You’re not the only one who’s bored, thought Ronin. When he heard a light thump on the roof above him, Ronin chuckled internally and hid in a large cardboard box. He watched as Shade slipped through the same window as he did and landed on the floor almost silently. He was pretty graceful. How much does he weigh, Ronin thought to himself as he spied on his rival creeping up on the target.

Shade was about to pull out one of his blades when his foot got caught on something, or rather stuck. He looked down at his unmoving leg as he attempted to move it again. When it refused to budge, he tried the other one and found it in the same situation. Shade surveyed the floor underneath him. He grabbed some dust-like substance from his pocket and threw it at his feet, only for it to stick to the floor as well.

Ronin laughed silently, his shoulders shaking, as Shade tried and failed to free himself from the glue covered floor. It wasn’t the most elaborate trick but he was on a budget. Then the other did something unexpected, Shade began to untie his bootlaces and step out of them. This created a lot of noise which the target noticed and prompted them to investigate. The thief screamed as he caught sight of Shade and ran off.

Ronin took that as his cue to leave the box and run after him. He only made it to the door of the storage room when he tripped over some small, round objects. He hit the floor hard, his back giving a horrible sound in response to the rough treatment, and groaned. He could hear Shade laugh as he inspected what made him fall. It was marbles, little glass marbles littered the floor under and around him.

Shade had managed to free himself from his boots but was unsure on how to escape the glue area. He didn’t know how far it went and his footwear wasn’t the best foothold to be balancing on. He glanced up once to see Ronin slowly picking himself up off the floor, he felt bad after hearing him sound his back made. Said man came to stand at the edge of what he presumed to be the glue area. 

Shade huffed at the smirk on his face, “You’ve ruined my favourite shoes you know.”

“Sorry about that, but it’s payback.” Ronin chuckled but stopped to wince and hold his side.

“I get it, how’s your back?” Shade asked with a mix of curiosity and sympathy.

“Possibly broken,” Ronin said jokingly.

“Ouch…” Shade winced as he gave an attempt at crossing the glue.

Ronin watched as he got ready to jump then stopped at the last minute. After a couple repeats of this process, he asked, “Need some help?”

“I-” Shade began to reply before stopping himself. Could he do this by himself? He looked at the dust he had thrown and the large area it had covered. No he couldn’t. Swallowing some of his pride, he admitted, “Yeah , some help would be nice.”

“Okay then, jump and I’ll catch you.” Ronin instructed holding out his arms.

“With your ‘possibly’ broken back, no chance.” Shade protested despite nearly slipping of his shoes.

“It’s either that or new socks, your choice.” He offered gesturing with his hands.

“Fine,” Shade relented. He gave one more try at jumping and landed in the other’s grip. He took a moment to steady himself before looking up at the other man. The fact he was shorter than Ronin bothered him slightly, but for this situation it was okay. He got a better view of his face, it was tired and dirty with stubble dotting his chin. Shade thought he looked worn out but somehow still ready to take on the world, it showed strength of character. What he didn’t notice was the fact that he was now staring at the other for longer than what was considered normal for their situation, if said situation could be considered normal in the first place.

Ronin coughed under the scrutiny before letting go off the man, catching the confused expression on Shade’s face. He stepped back and pointed his thumb at the door muttering, “Well I’ll be going, see ya next time.”

“Yeah… See you soon.” Shade waved distractedly edging towards the window they had entered through. Ronin stopped at the open doorway to watch him leave. He had to admit, to himself mostly, that he’d grown fond of the other despite their playful fighting. He didn’t break focus on the other as he grabbed the narrow window ledge and hoisted himself up. Shade disappeared into the night.

\---

The pair met a few times on their chase for the thief. Neither of them managed to catch him with the other distracting or tricking them every step of the way. Time was running out on how long they could keep tracking the guy before he went underground, or something to that effect. They both knew this and so had taken to talking to their informants. The information had slowly began to dry up the more they asked around.

Ronin sighed as he placed his chin in his hand, elbow resting on the countertop of the bar. The room was filled with its usual chatter and whispering, the front door occasionally squeaking to indicate someone entering or leaving. He took no notice of the people around him as they shuffled around the space until someone sat in the seat beside him. The person gave a heavy sigh while leaning on the bar themself.

He glanced over to see Shade mirroring his pose with a small smile on his face. He wasn’t in the mood for his antics but kept quiet as the other spoke, “So, you come here often?”

Ronin snorted then rolled his eyes as he replied, “That was bad.”

“So bad,” Shade winced jokingly and laughed.

“Don’t quit your day job.” Ronin joked back then sighed again.

“No luck?” Shade asked, raising a curious eyebrow.

“Nope… We’ve been chasing this guy for too long, it’s getting harder to keep track of him.” He explained tiredly. An understanding silence fell over the pair as they contemplated their current situation. Minutes ticked by as neither of them spoke a word until Shade suddenly perked up. Ronin gave his companion a questioning look and asked, “You got an idea?”

“What if we team up?” Shade proposed, “Think about it, we both have information but not enough to catch the guy and we can easily split the reward.”  
Ronin thought about it for a moment before nodding. He slipped off his stool before holding his hand out to Shade, then offered, “Shall we?”

Shade rolled his eyes and hopped off his own stool, not accepting the offered hand. He didn’t mention how his companion’s face dropped for a moment at the action. He walked past Ronin then stopped at the door to call over his shoulder, “You coming?”

“Thought you’d never ask,” Ronin admitted humorously as he walked over and went through the door. Shade exited behind him after casting a quick glance over his shoulder one last time. Something didn’t feel right.

\---

“This can’t be right,” Shade muttered looking down at the scrap of cardboard, previously part of a milk carton, he had been given by his informants. On it was a terribly written address to the building they were currently stood in front of. He continued, “He said there was some deal going down between our thief’s gang and a group of coders.” The pair glanced around them, as if to confirm they were not imagining their current location, to see a quiet suburban neighbourhood. 

It was the kind of neighbourhood you see in town brochures, full of sunlight and trees. Everyone greeting each other with a wave and a smile, except for them (the pair got curious side glances and raised eyebrows from every direction). The house in front of them was too large to be considered a house but too small to be a mansion. It had a large iron gate in front of a long driveway that led up to the cream colored house. Whoever lived there had to be well off, not the kind of people to associate with low level thieves.

Not sure what else to do, the pair made eye contact to ask each other the same question. Ronin sighed, slumping over, “Should we ring in?”

“Probably,” Shade answered awkwardly. He rang the bell attached to the gate before hearing it ring from inside the house. After a couple minutes, the front door of the house opened to reveal a hunched over old lady with a walking stick. She looked down the driveway at them then gave them a small wave while calling, “Do let yourselves in, it’s unlocked.” Taking the invitation, the pair went through the heavy gate and went up the pavement to meet her. She was still smiling when they stopped in front of her, she greeted them, “You must be friends of my grandson. Although, you look much nicer than the rest of them, so friendly.”

Shade coughed into his hand, unable to look her in the eye, so Ronin took the lead and replied, “We’re looking for a known thief, your grandson wouldn’t happen to know him.”

“I certainly hope not,” she admitted firmly. Her face fell after a moment and she sighed, “But it wouldn’t surprise me at this point.”

“Huh?” He asked, somewhat concerned for this old woman.

“Oh, do come in you two.” She deflected effortlessly as she turned around and gestured for them to follow her. She hobbled through the front door of the house rambling to them, “Could I get you anything? Especially you dear, you look unwell. Are you getting enough sleep? Kids these days, staying up until they pass out. Completely unhealthy, but I guess you can’t help it…” Neither of them had the heart to interrupt her, especially Shade since most of the comments were directed towards him, so they took in their surroundings. It was, in every way thinkable, an ordinary looking home. Family photos and small paintings covered the peach walls and trinkets littered several shelves dotted about the hallways.

Shade was uneasy about how calm everything seemed which prompted him to take quick glances over at Ronin, who seemed to share his thoughts. The group came to a stop in front of a grand set of stairs. The old lady pointed up them and explained, “He’s up there, second door to the right. Don’t do anything too dangerous, wouldn’t want you boys getting hurt now. Would we?”

“But what if we-” Shade started quickly before being interrupted.

“You two have fun now, bring my boy to his senses. Will you?” The old lady chuckled before wandering off to another part of the house.

“Yes ma’am.” Ronin agreed confidently, when Shade raised an eyebrow at his actions he simply shrugged with a grin on his face.

Shade whispered, “You seem to be handling this well, how?”

They went up the flight of stairs while Ronin muttered, “This job puts you in some weird situations. The gang the target is part of is most likely currently recruiting. Probably wanted to upgrade their work so they pressured the easiest people they could get their hands on to do their dirty work, so kids.”

“What are we going to do?” Shade questioned as they reached the upper floor.

“Get what we came here for.” He answered flatly, as if it was so obvious.

“The thief?” Shade questioned again worriedly.

“Yeah, and his boss.” Ronin grinned at the thought while Shade was still unsure. His old jobs were more cleancut than this so it was throwing him for a loop. After mulling it over in his head, he smiled to himself. He may not look like it but deep down Ronin was a good guy. Sure, it was buried under mountains of asshole but it was there. His thoughts were stopped by them reaching their destination. 

They both prepared themselves before Ronin reached for the door handle. He whispered, “On the count of three…” After three beats, the pair burst through the door to find a room full of people of varying ages. Some were wearing expensive suits, others less expensive clothes (like jeans, hoodies and T-shirts). Everyone in the room turned to look at them, many of the guys in suits flinching to reach for something on their belt.

The space itself was poorly lit, with the curtains drawn for more privacy, making Shade smirk. He took a step forward and spoke in an authoritative voice, “You’re going to have to come with us.”

“Or things are going to get messy.” Ronin added slyly, earning an eye roll from Shade.

“Are you ever serious?” Shade asked flatly giving him an unimpressed look.

“Sometimes,” Ronin admitted with a shrug and a small grin. Before the pair could bicker any more, a shot rang out in the room. They both turned around to see how they guess was the leader of the group holding a gun pointed to the ceiling, dust raining down from the area it hit.

“I don’t know who you are but don’t mess with us.” The leader yelled as he pointed the gun at a scared trio of teens, “Move and I’ll shoot them.” Ronin scowled at his actions, but remained still, out the corner of his eye he could see Shade flinch. Instead, he scanned the group of men with guns, spotting the thief amongst them, and counted at least fifteen men. Enough for them to handle but one wrong move and it could all go south.

Shade could tell what he was thinking, judging by the thoughtful expression he had, and then held up his hands in surrender. He sighed, “We give up.”

“Wait, what?” Ronin blurted out before he could catch himself. Most of the armed thugs chuckled, missing the silent conversation passing between the pair. Shade nodded towards the teens, then at him and flattened out one of his hands to push it downwards slightly. He wasn’t sure was the last bit meant but he got the gist of it. Ronin coughed into his hand before he copied the surrender.

The leader smirked and put down the gun, he gestured for his men to move in on them. He chuckled, “Pathetic, maybe you’ll have some enemies willing to pay money for you.”

“Oh, I doubt it.” Shade spat as he lowered his arms.

“How so?” He questioned with an arrogant tone.

“Because all my enemies are behind bars, just like your going to be.” Shade chuckled as the man raised his gun again in anger. Before he could pull the trigger, Shade slipped into the shadows making the thugs yell in confusion. The shot rang through the air making everyone go silent once more. The leader shifted to point the weapon at Ronin who went to duck until the man screamed, “Don’t even think about it! I don’t care what little your boyfriend just used to disappear but if he doesn’t come back this second, you are dead. You hear me, dead!”

“Is that so?” Shade sneered from his hiding place. As the leader opened his mouth to respond he materialised from the ceiling above him. Shade drove his front foot straight into the man’s face making him crumple under his weight. He hit the floor with a thud and Shade landed on top of him, the other man’s body giving a sickening crack in protest. Ronin dove for the group of teens as every gun in the room was pointed at the elemental master.

Shade glared at them and questioned, “Do you really want to do that?” There was a beat of silence then they lowered their guns. He chuckled, “I thought so.”

\---

The glow off police lights filled the area as the sun fell below the horizon. The first shot had been heard throughout the neighbourhood causing panicked residents to call the emergency services. It didn’t take long for officers to flood the house, expecting to see a gruesome scene waiting for them, only to find the thugs captured with zip ties and a crime boss lying unconscious on the floor. 

The old woman greeted them from the sitting room, “Hello officers, would you like some tea?” Said officers whispered between themselves until one of them radioed the commissioner to come inside. The sitting room they were guided into had a group of people sat drinking tea and eating homemade biscuits. The commissioner sighed as he recognised two of them, “I should have known.”

Ronin waved from his chair and spoke through half a biscuit, “Hey there officers, we already caught the criminal so you can just cart ‘em away.”

“And the one on the floor?” A paramedic asked from the behind the commissioner then clarified, “The one with the broken nose and ribs.”

“He was armed and so I took care of it,” Shade explained shortly. No one protested his actions as an understanding silence fell over the room before the officers, except the commissioner, split to take care of the criminals. He stayed with the group to get the full story of what went on. The trio of teens told their side, exaggerating some parts of their rescue, all the while trying to speak over each other in excitement. When it came time for Ronin and Shade to be relay their side they were calmer and left out some of the less important details.

At the end of the mock interview, the commissioner sighed at the pair, “This teamup of yours… Is it going to be permanent?”

The pair glanced at each other, they hadn’t thought about it until that moment, then nodded. Ronin leaned over to wrap an arm around Shade’s shoulder, “Hell yeah, this guy is my new partner.”

“Oh great,” the commissioner put his head in his hands.

“Don’t worry, we’ll keep each other in check.” Shade comforted making Ronin laugh until he elbowed him in the side.

\---

Later that night, Shade managed to drag himself back to his apartment. All the excitement had tired him out, he was ready for bed. He slipped through his front door quietly as not to wake his neighbours. Then flicked on the light to the main area of his living space. His small sitting room was bathed in the dull orange glow of the overhead light. He shuffled over to his couch, prepared to fall onto it for the night, but stood next to it when he noticed a box resting on one of the seats.

He flopped down on his seat beside the object. Shade was suspicious of the sudden appearance of it and so opened it slowly. He peeked inside to begin with until he caught sight of what was inside. The lid was taken off to reveal a new pair of boots identical to the pair that Ronin had ruined. Shade took one of the pair out of its place to turn it over in his hand.

He noticed a smart card in the bottom of the box which he opened to reveal a message, ‘They look good on you, although you probably look good in anything -Ronin’. Shade chuckled after he read it aloud to himself. He hugged the object to his chest as he lay down on the couch and fell asleep.

Unaware, once again, of his surroundings.

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for a friend of mine. 
> 
> I hadn't thought of this ship before they had mentioned it but I kind of fell in love with it. Expect more of these two, most likely a sequel to this.


End file.
